1988 Mk2 Cavalier 1.8GLi

[sleag40]

Nov 12, 2019 12:37:30 GMT darrenh said:

plastic version is off a later model (or is aftermarket replacement)

if it were me i would try and fix the metal one (insulation) but this is only based on confirmation bias of reading vauxhall forums for the last 20 years

I'll see if I can de-pin the plug and slide some shrink wrap over the wires. The plastic one is GM, just from a mk3 - if I can tidy up the original one, I can keep the later one as a spare.

Got a bit of time on the bead blaster today to clean up a few bits and pieces. 



The flywheel cover got a bit of silver engine enamel before available time ran out. 



I'll hopefully get the other bits painted some time this week. 

[darrenh]

Nov 12, 2019 21:46:16 GMT sleag40 said:

I'll see if I can de-pin the plug and slide some shrink wrap over the wires. The plastic one is GM, just from a mk3 - if I can tidy up the original one, I can keep the later one as a spare.

good idea, terminal extraction tool very handy for the tool box ! ive got ones made by durite, (red and green hex shaped ones)

[sleag40]

Black bits painted in engine enamel. 



Exhaust manifold was blasted yesterday, (cheers Dave!) and sprayed with high temperature paint at work this afternoon. 





More freshening up of filthy stuff coming soon.

[sleag40]

Procrastination took up most of the available time today. I did manage to get the alternator cleaned up though. 



I'll be blasting and painting the fan, pulley and tensioner arm in the week to smarten them up a bit - the main body came up well enough to leave as is.  

[sleag40]

More cleaning done over the last couple of days - first was the engine wiring loom. 



Never knew that the injector plugs were yellow until now!

All the coolant hoses and hard pipe were then dismantled and given a thorough cleaning, they came up surprisingly well. I need to swap out a few corroded jubilee clips before they go back into service, the pipes were then reassembled so I don't forget how they go. 



The starter motor was then given a couple of coats of engine enamel. I'll be using the same stuff on the engine block when I get round to cleaning all the curse word off it. 



More cleany/painty stuff to follow! 

[sleag40]

Finally got some paint on the horn. As you'd expect after being so rusted, it's severely pitted - but does look a lot better than it did. 



The alternator bits have been blasted, painted and put back together. Looks pretty reasonable now. 



Made a start on the inlet manifold + associated gubbins. 



Got it all stripped down, now just need to pretty it up a bit.

[shielsy68]

Lovely level of workmanship

[sleag40]

Way colder than is bearable for long down at the shed this afternoon - an hour or so was enough for me. Inlet manifold relieved of 99% of its coating of muck. 



I'll finish it off with some alloy wheel cleaner another time.

[teaboy]

Nov 20, 2019 18:21:35 GMT sleag40 said:

Way colder than is bearable for long down at the shed this afternoon

I know, it’s like winter!

[vitesseefi]

Nov 20, 2019 18:30:57 GMT teaboy said:

Nov 20, 2019 18:21:35 GMT sleag40 said:

Way colder than is bearable for long down at the shed this afternoon

I know, it’s like winter!

Worse than that.... it actually is winter. Even in the south. Must be grim up north.....

Nick

[sleag40]

Finished cleaning, then reassembled the inlet manifold stuff. It looks a bit nicer than it did last week! 



I also got the cam belt covers cleaned up ready to put back on - still on the hunt for the missing lower outer part. 



I had a bit of a trial with petrol/diesel mix for cleaning the head/block. Its no better than neat petrol, but there's a free supply of it available to me at the moment. 



Before I left, I cobbled up a blanking plate to stop crud falling into the engine now the dipstick/breather has been removed. There's gonna be a fair bit of muck flying about when I get stuck in to cleaning this thing!

[sleag40]

Managed to make a bit of progress cleaning up the lump this afternoon. 





The plan is to get the top end satisfactorily clean and leave it as bare alloy. The bottom end will be done in black engine enamel. (still a long way to go until its all clean enough)  

[sleag40]

Time has been in short supply again this week, but I've still managed to get a few bits done. 

Made a start bare metalling the block. 



Smartened up the HT lead clips that bolt to the camshaft cover. 



Breather pipe/dipstick tube, its bracket to the block as well as the dipstick itself have now been blasted and painted up. 



In other news, I spotted another new wheel trim on ebay, having a spare one can only be a good thing.

[fastblatt]

Always liked those wheel trims

[sleag40]

All oil + paint now removed from the block. 







Just needs the rust wire wheeling back to shiny metal and it can be painted. Probably gonna have to leave that until it warms up a bit though - far too cold to paint anything in there at the present time.   

[sleag40]

Not had any time for this until this afternoon. The core plug that sits behind the starter motor looked a little suspect after I took the wire brush drill attachment to it. It was rust pitted much worse than the others, so it was ousted. 



A full set was procured from ebay 



And the dodgy one was replaced. 



Hopefully I'll get this painted at the weekend.

[sleag40]

Block now has 2 coats of engine enamel on it after a mammoth wire brush/cleaning session. 





Should get the sump pan painted tomorrow, so I can start putting it back together next week hopefully.

[sleag40]

The missing part of the cam belt cover plus the clips arrived this morning. Many thanks to Keith at Vauxhall Green Parts. 



Sump pan now cleaned and painted. 



Just waiting for a stat housing to arrive, and it can go back together.  

[sleag40]

Replacement thermostat housing arrived today thanks to a top bloke called John off mk2cav.com. I gave it a quick bath in petrol, then a cheeky bead blast to leave me with a ready to fit part.





Hopefully it won't be too long before the engine is reunited with all its parts.

[sleag40]

I was hoping to get the motor built back up this afternoon, but thanks to good old ebay, the cam belt and water pump were wrong. The ebay fitment check is clearly not to be relied on.  





Although its tempting to clean and refit the old one, I'm gonna have to play water pump roulette again.